Fight or flight...
Posted by Ahmed Mustafa , Sunday, February 14, 2010 3:40 AM
When i initially came to the hostel, I was quite the "burger" kid. For those of you who dont know what it means (Untill my Alevels i thought that burger meant fat...) its a person who comes from an elite family, talks only in English - essentially people still stuck in the slave mentality that the English colonialists left behind in our part of the region. Essentially a person that does not appreciate ones own culture and would throw it away if he or she was offered a burger from burger king...
Getting back to topic, I needed to adapt and life here helped me out in doing so. New people, new surroundings, and an overall new culture helped me define a completely new mindset and approach to life. Did I leave my values behind? Some I did, but my new approach to life is a fusion of the good and bad - more realistic then ever before.
The reason for this post is that it came into question after an event yesterday. During a match, a person said something that truly hurt me. Now the average person around here would not have thought twice before burying the person in the ground within seconds of the words coming out of his mouth. But I didn't.
I told him NEVER to say it again - OR - I would bury him where he stood, and he understood. Through out the match, and until I slept at night I kept wondering and questioning whether my approach was correct. Was I a wuss for not raising my fists and beating him to a pulp?(and God knows I wanted to). It even bugged me till I wrote about it today.
I was right. If I had fought, it would be a bad lesson for the 150 strong hostelites that I currently manage. If words could warn, it was better than doing anything else. If I had fought him, what would be the difference between us humans and animals? Where would all the diplomacy I had learnt over these years go?
Im better now...as long as you dont talk to me about it again.
Posted in
Okay I won't talk about it. But just one thing: you did the right thing. People who hurt you aren't good enough to have your energy wasted on.